Peanut harvesting machine



March 24, 1953 J. A. ANDERSON PEANUT HARVESTING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Sept. 22, 1950 March 24, 1953 J. A. ANDERSON PEANUT HARVESTINGMACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 22, 1950 m J A v 0 INVENTOR. 144415 9. fl/vqekso/v N BY Z AUTOANEXS March 24, 1953 J. A. ANDERSON 9 3PEANUT HARVESTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 22, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V ENTOR. M40755 ,9. AWDLRSON My 6156a: flITOf/VEYS March 24, 1953 J. A.ANDERSON 2,632,290

PEANUT HARVESTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 22, 195 0 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Patented Mar. 24, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

2 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for harvesting peanuts and has forits principal object the provision of such apparatus whereby the peanutsare harvested after the vines have been removed.

A further object of my invention is to provide apparatus for harvestingpeanuts whereby the labor required is greatly reduced.

A further object is to provide apparatus for harvesting peanuts wherebythe peanuts may be harvested at the convenience of the farmer ratherthan at a particular time, thus affording more time for the peanuts tomature, increasing the yield, eliminating the problems of a pressedmarket for the peanuts, and reducing the labor required for gatheringand marketing the peanuts.

A still further object of my invention is to provide apparatus forharvesting peanuts including means for scooping up the top surface ofthe ground containing the peanuts and means to separate the soil, trashand stones from the peanuts. Heretofore, it has been the universalcustom to harvest peanuts by pulling up the vines with the peanutshanging to the roots and stacking the vines with the roots outward todry, the nuts were then removed from the roots by a picker and cleanedof dirt and graded. This method necessarily involves the discarding of alarge quantity of immature peanuts. If the vines are allowed to remainin the field until all the peanuts are mature, then the stems betweenthe vines and the earlier peanuts rot and when the vines are pulled up,these peanuts are left in the ground. With my improved apparatus thepeanuts are not harvested with the vines. The vines are allowed toremain in the field until all the pea-nuts have matured. The vines arethen removed, without removing the peanuts and the mature peanuts arethen dug from the ground, cleaned and sacked in one operation. By thismeans the yield is increased as much as 40%, the grade of peanuts isimproved, and the labor of harvesting greatly reduced. Furthermore thepeanuts may be harvested at a time convenient to the farmer and notnecessarily at a particular time, as with prior methods and apparatus.

In operation, my improved apparatus scoops up the top soil whichcontains the peanuts. The

peanuts, soil, trash, rocks and the like are then conveyed upwardly by aconveyor over a screen comprised of a plurality of longitudinallyextending rods spaced apart to allow the soil to fall therethrough, butclose enough. to prevent peanuts from passing through. The peanuts,trash, rocks and the remaining soil next fall onto a screen comprised ofa multiplicity of closely spaced rotary discs mounted on a shaft wherethe soil is further separated from the peanuts. They then pass to ashaking screen having openings at the forward portion thereof whichpermit the remaining soil to fall therethrough but retain the peanutsand openings at the rear thereof which are of a size to permit thepeanuts to pass through and retain the trash. The stones are thenseparated from the peanuts by passing the peanuts through a stoneseparator. The peanuts are then bagged in the usual manner.

Apparatus embodying the features of my invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of this application in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the peanut harvester;

Fig. 2 is a plan viewthereof; Fig. 3 is an end view thereof; Fig. 4 is asectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line VIVI of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of the stone separator partly broken awayand in section;

Fig. 8 shows a modified form of my invention whereby a combined rotarydigger and screen is employed; and,

Fig. 9 is a sectional IX-IX of Fig. 8.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of my inventionL show in Fig. 1 a frame I!) having lower side members H and 2, upperside members [3 and I 4, lower cross members I 6, upper cross members H,vertical frame members I8, l3a and l8b, and inclined frame members l9and 2| at the forward end of the frame. At the forward end of the lowerside members H and I2 are inwardly and forwardly extending frame members'22 and 23 joined together at the forward end thereof by a lateral crosspieces 24. The frame is mounted on wheels 26 and 21 and is attached to atractor 28 as at 29.

Mounted adjacent the upper forward side of the forwardmost verticalmember I8 are bearings 3| and 32. Rotatably mounted in the bearings 3|and 32 is a shaft 33. Pivotally mounted on the shaft 33 in bearings 34and 36 is an inclined conveyor 3! comprising a pair of angle irons viewtaken along line 38 and 39 having laterally extending cross bars- 4|therebetween and secured to the under side of the angle irons.Preferably, the cross bars M should be approximately 12 inches apart.Mounted on top of and supported by the cross bars 4| are a plurality ofrods 42 which are parallel to the angle irons 33 and 39. The rods arespaced apart a suflicient distance to allow sand to fall therethroughand to prevent the peanuts, as shown at l5, from falling therethrough.In practice I have found that, for runner peanuts, rods approximately t;of an inch in diameter and approximately of an inch apart aresatisfactory.

Mounted at the lower end of the elevator in suitable bearings 43 and 44is a shaft 46. Mounted on the shaft 33 are sprockets GT and 48 andmounted on the shaft 46 are sprockets 49 and The sprockets El and 49 arerotatably connected by an endless sprocket chain 52 and the sprockets 48and connected by an endless sprocket chain 53. Se-

cured to the sprocket chain '52 and 53 at intervals are laterallyextending angle iron drags 54. The sprockets 48 and ll rotate in acounterclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1 and as they rotate thedrags 54 slidably contact the upper surface of the rods 62. To assurethat the spaces between the rods 42 are always kept free fromobstructions, fingers 55, which extend downwardly between the rods 42,may be provided at the bottom of the drags 54.

Secured to the lower end of the elevator 3'! is a plate 56 anddetachably secured to the plate 55 is a scoop 51. The scoop 51 may besecured to the plate 56 by any suitable means such as bolts 58. The rods42 are curved at the lower ends thereof so that the upper surface of therods rests levelwith the face of the scoop 51. Secured to the lowersides of the elevator as at 59 andv 59a is a U-shaped lifting member 6|.The U-shaped lifting member is operatively connected to the hydrauliclift 62 of the tractor and is operated in a manner well understood. j

Secured to the lifting member 6| in anysuitable manner is a bearing 5!Pivotally mounted in the bearing 58 is a forked member a which may beadjustably held in place by means of collars Bllb having setscrews 66c.Rotatably mounted in the lower end of the forked member 60a is a wheel.E5. -The pivot wheel supports the forward end; of the conveyor 3'! andalso causes the scoop to follow the contour of the soil. Rotatablymounted on the frame in a position to receive the peanuts and materialsto be separated therefrom from the elevator 3! are three rotary discscreens El, 68 and 69 mounted on shafts 53, 64 and 66 respectively.While I show three disc screens, it will be apparent that any number ofsuch disc screens may be employed.- The shafts are rotatably mounted insuitable bearings on supporting members ll and I la. The supportingmembers'll and Ila may be sloped rearwardly at an angle from thehorizontal, the angle of slope depending upon the speed at which thedisc screens rotate. Each disc screen is made upof a plurality ofindividual thin metal discs 12 of; suitable diameter and approximatelyof an inch apart. The individual discs are separated by means ofcircular spacers it! which are mounted on the shaftsififi, E4 and 66between the discs, 12. Mounted on a second pair of supporting members'13. and 73a parallel to the supporting members TI and i la are crossrods '14 and mounted on the cross rods M are a plurality of fingers 1%.The fingers, T5 extend between the individual are rotatably discs 12 toa point adjacent the outer surface of the spacers i8 and prevent rocks,trash and the like from being lodged therebetween. The discs 12 arepreferably mounted off center on their respective shafts so as toincrease the shaking action and further separate soil from the peanuts.The individual discs T2 of the disc screens '68 overlap the individualdiscs of the disc screens 61 and 53 as shown.

Mounted on the lower supporting members 13 and 13a in suitable bearings78 and 18a is a countershaft 79. The countershaft 13 is operativelyconnected to the shaft 33 by means of a sprocket chain 8! which passesover suitable sprocket-s mounted on the shafts id and 33. The shaft 63,on which disc screen 67 is mounted, is rotatably connected to thecountershaft 79- by means of a twisted belt 32 which passes over apulley 83 on shaft 63 and a pulley 84 on the countershaft l9. The discscreen 61 is operatively connected to the disc screen 58 by means of abelt 86 passing over a pulley 87 on the shaft 63 and a pulley 88 on theshaft 6 5. Disc screen 68 is operably connected to the disc screen 59 bymeans of a belt is passing over a pulley 9!. on the shaft 54 and apulley on the shaft 66. To assure that all the peanuts strike the disc61 before passing to the-other discs, I provide a baffle 83 which issecured to the upper frame members is and Hi.

Mounted on the frame It adjacent the discharge end of the disc 69 is arearwardly sloping shaker screen 52 embodying a plate 93 having openings8 in the forward half thereof of a size to permit sand to falltherethrough and to prevent'the peanuts from falling therethrough. Therear half of the plate 93 is provided with open-' lugs 96 of a size topermit the peanuts to fall through and to retain any trash, large.clods,

rocks or the like thereon. The trash passes over the ends of the plate93 at 91.

The shaking screen is pivotally supported from the frame It by means ofvertically extending arms 98, 99, I05 and H32. Mounted'on the lowerforward side of the vertical frame members. I'8a in suitable bearings isa shaft I03. Mounted on the shaft [G3 is an eccentric [Us for shakingthe screen 92 and is connected to the screen 9-2 by means of a rod H36.Also mounted on the shaft I03 adjacent the eccentric HM is a pulley I01.The. shaft is is'operably'connected to the shaft 66 by means of atwisted belt 108 which passes over a pulley I61, and a pulley I09 onshaft 66.

.Mounted above the shaker screen 92 is a conveyor H35 comprising a shaftIll rotatably mounted in bearings H3 and H3 and a shaft H2 rotatablymounted in bearings H4 and H4. Mounted adjacent the opposite ends of theshaft HI are sprocket-s H5 and i IT and mounted adjacent opposite endsof the shaft 1 [2 are sprockets I I8 and H9. Passing over the sprocketsH6 and H8 is an endless sprocket chain [2| and passin OVer the sprocketsIll and H9 is an endless sprocket chain l22. Secured at intervals to thesprocket chains I2! and 122 are laterally extending angle iron dragsl23. The angle iron drags I23 slidably contact the upper surface of theplates 93 thus moving the peanuts and material to be separated therefromacross the plate. The shaft I'll is rotatably connected to the shaft 33by means of an endless sprocket chain H0 which passes over suitablesprockets on the shafts II I and 33.

Mounted beneath the rear half of the'plate 93 is a closed: receptacleI24 having a bottom wall I26 parallel to and spaced'from the plate 93.The lower end of the container I24 is in the form of a laterally slopingpassage I21 which is substantially rectangular in cross section.

Communicating with the lower end of the passage I21 is an elevator I28embodying :a closed conveyor housing I29 and has mounted adjacent theupper end thereof a shaft I3I having a sprocket I32 mounted thereon.Mounted at the lower end of the conveyor housing on a shaft I33 is asprocket I34. Passing over the sprockets I32 and I34 is a conveyor chainI36 having buckets I31 mounted thereon. To drive the sprocket chain I36a pulley I36 is mounted at one end of the shaft H2 and mounted at oneend of the shaft I3I opposite the pulley I38 and rotatably connectedthereto by means of a belt I39 is a pulley I 4|.

The elevator I28 discharges the peanuts, stones and the like into achute I 42 which communicates with a stone separator I43 comprising atubular conduit I49 having an air blower I44 at one end thereof and anopening at the other end thereof. The blower is mounted on a shaft I45mounted in bearings I45a. Pivotally mounted at the bottom of the conduitI40 is an adjustable baffle I46. The baflle is adjusted to a point wherepeanuts are lifted over the baffle by the air current and the stonesfall down in front of the battle and out through an opening I48. Thechute I42 communicates with the conduit I40 intermediate the blower andthe baffle I46. In operation the blower I44 blows the peanuts over thebaffle I46 into an outlet I41, while the stones fall through the outletI4B which is below the point where the chute I42 communicates with theconduit I49. The outlet I41 communicates with a screw conveyor I49mounted on a shaft I5I which is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings.The screw conveyor conveys the peanuts to the opposite side of the frameI where the peanuts are discharged into a bag I52 resting on a platformI50. The shaft I! is rotatably connected to the shaft I3I by means of abelt I53 passing over a pulley I54 on the shaft I5I and a pulley I56 onthe shaft I3 I.

Mounted on top of the frame member I4 by bolts I51 is a power unit, suchas an internal combustion enigne I56, for driving the moving parts ofthe harvester. I prefer to use a separate power unit on the harvesterrather than a power takeoff from the tractor since it is very importantto have an uninterrupted or uniform power supply. The engine I58 has ashaft I59 and mounted on the shaft I59 is a pulley I6I. The pulley I6Iis rotatably connected to the shaft I45 by means of a belt I62 passingover a pulley I63 on the shaft I45. Also mounted on the shaft I45 is apulley I64 which is rotatably connected to the shaft I93 by means of abelt I 66 which passes over a pulley I 61 mounted on the shaft I93. Theshaft I03 and shaft I45 rotate in a counter-clockwise direction asviewed in Fig. 1 while the shafts 63, 64 and 66 rotate in a clockwisedirection. The conveyor 31, conveyor I05, elevator I28 and screwconveyor I49 all rotate in a counter-clockwise direction, as viewed inFig. 1.

From the foregoing the operation of my improved peanut harvester willnow be readily understood. The peanut vines are first removed and thesurface of the ground broken up by any suitable means. As the harvesteris moved forward by the tractor 28 the conveyor 31 is lowered by meansof the hydraulic lift 62 so that the scoop 51 scoops up approximately 3inches of the top soil containing the peanuts. The soil the peanuts.

containing the peanut is then conveyed upwardly over the longitudinallyextending rods 42 by means of the angle iron drags 54 thus causing aconsiderable amount of sand to fall downwardly between the rods 42. Byproviding a plurality of longitudinally extending rods, the peanutsslide along the upper surface of the rods without any danger of thembeing damaged. From the elevator 31 the peanuts fall onto the discscreens 61, 68 and 69 thus further removing sand from The baflleprevents the peanuts and soil from being thrown over the first disc 61.thus assuring that all the peanuts and materials to be separatedtherefrom strike all three discs. As the discs rotate the fingers 16extending between the individual discs keep the space therebetween clearof all trash, rocks and the like. The peanuts, trash, rocks and the likepass from the disc screen 69 onto the shaker screen 92 where theremaining sand falls through the openings 94 as the conveyor I05 movesthe peanuts and materials to be separated therefrom across the plate 93.The peanuts and small stones then pass through the opening 96 into thecontainer I24 thence through the sloping passage I21. While the trashand larger stones pass off the end of the plate 93 as at 91. From thepassage I21 the peanuts and stones pass to the elevator I28 and areconveyed upwardly by means of the buckets I31 and are discharged intothe chute I42. The peanuts and stones then pass through the stoneseparator I43 where the stones fall through the opening I48 and thepeanuts are blown over baffle I 46 into the opening I41. The peanutsthen pass through the screw conveyor I49 to the bags I52 where they arebagged in the usual manner.

In Figs. 8 and 9 I show a modified form of my invention in which arotary digger I69 is employed instead of the scoop 51 and the conveyor31. The rotary digger is mounted on a shaft I1I which is rotatablymounted in suitable bearings on the sloping frame members I9 and 2|.Mounted at one end of the shaft I1I is a sprocket I12 which is driven bya chain I13 which passes over the sprocket I12 and a suitable sprocketon the shaft III.

The rotary digger comprises a spider I14 secured to a suitable bearingI16 at one side of the digger and a similar spider I 11 secured to abearing I18 at the opposite side of the digger. Secured to the innerside of each of the spiders I14 and I11 and inwardly of the ends thereofare lateral cross bars I19. Extending around and contacting the outersurfaces of the bars I19 are rods I8I spaced apart a sufficient distanceto allow sand to fall therethrough and to prevent the peanuts fromfalling therethrough. The rods I8I are held in place by means oflaterally extending bars I82 having downturned ends I83 and I84, whichfit snugly against theouter sides of the spiders I14 and I11. Secured tothe bars I82 and extending outwardly therefrom are curved fingers I86which scoop up the soil containing the peanuts and discharge the sameonto the rotary disc screen 61. A baffle I61 is provided between thedigger I69 and the disc to prevent the peanuts from fallingtherebetween. Secured to the inner sides of the spiders I14 and I11adjacent the bearings I16 and I 18 respectively is a double conicalplate I66 which slopes upwardly toward the center thereof as at I89.This plate provides a sloping surface to deflect the sand, which fallsdownwardly between the rods I6I, between the arms I14 and I11 outwardlyof the rotary digger.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have 7. devised a peanutharvester which gathers substantially all of the peanuts and one whichmay be adapted for harvesting peanuts} after the vines have beenremoved, and which may be employed to harvest peanuts at the convenienceof the farmer.

While I have shown my invention in but two forms it will be obvious tothose skilled in the art that it is not so limited and I desire,therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed thereupon as arespecifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Inapparatus for harvesting sub-surface crops such as peanuts and thelike after the vines have been removed and separating the same fromloose dirt and adhering soil, a translatably supported frame, aforwardly inclined conveyor trough pivotally mounted at its upper end tosaid frame and comprising a bottom in the form of longitudinallyextending rods substantially the length of the trough spaced a.sufficient distance apart to permit loose soil and the like to passtherebetween and close enough to prevent peanuts from passingtherebetween, means to move the peanuts and soil up the trough parallelto the longitudinal axes of said rods, a scoop at the lower end of saidconveyor trough in position to scoop up soil containing the peanuts asthe apparatus moves along and place the same in said conveyor trough,means to regulate the working depth of said scoop, laterally extendingshafts rotatably mounted on said frame with the forwardmost shaftpositioned adjacent the discharge end of said trough conveyor, means torotate said shafts, and a plurality of spaced apart circular discsmounted on said shafts, said discs being spaced apart a distance topermit the soil removed from the peanuts by said discs to passtherebetween and close enough to prevent the peanuts from passingtherebetween.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which a baiile is mounted on theframe adjacent the discharge end of said conveyor trough and above thediscs adjacent the end of said trough for deflecting all of the peanutsand the soil adhering thereto onto said adjacent discs.

JAMES A. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 315,793 Johnson Apr. 14, 1885622,035 Bray Mar. 28, 1899 1,014,493 Lauritzen et a1 Jan. 9, 19121,177,995 Crozier Apr. 4, 1916 1,301,109 Davis Apr. 22, 1919 1,816,999Ensmi-nger Aug. 4, 1931 2,054,984: Kohler Sept. 22, 1936 2,257,352Silver Sept. 30, 1941 2,311,982 Goodrich Feb. 23, 1943

